Reflection on Russell Street School

I was very impressed with the blog that Russell Street School uses to build a community of learners.The blog unifies administration, staff, teachers, students, the local community, and the global community. It truly is model for how blogging can be used for a variety of purposes. These purposes include general communication, classroom communication, classroom progress, individual progress and reflection, and portfolios.

First, I see this blog being used as a communication tool. There is a monthly calendar, links to news within the school and community, updates from the principal, and updates from the school office. Parents and community members are able to access the blog to receive general announcements. Second, I see this blog being used as a place for classrooms to communicate their weekly goals, tasks, and progress. I loved scrolling through the classroom blogs. I thought it was neat how the teacher contributed, individual student's contributed, and groups of students contributed. Videos, images, and links all helped draw in my engagement and understanding of what the students and classes were accomplishing. If I were a parent of a child in the school, I would be very excited to have a place that I could access with information about the daily classroom experiences and learning. I noticed that many of the videos were edited with images, video clips, transitions, music, and audio. I wondered how much the students were involved in this process and how time is allocated to complete the videos, as well as, update the blogs. As a result of taking this class on blogging, I have learned first hand how a blog takes commitment and a lot of time to maintain. Third, I see the incorporation of individual blogs that seem to serve as a student portfolio. I loved how students were posting their goals, rubrics, coursework, and even more videos. I wonder if these individual blogs will continue with them as they jump to new grade levels or if they start a new blog each year.

One area that did not seem to be utilized in their blogging initiative is commenting.We have been encouraged to comment on a regular basis to deepen our understanding of content and to provide feedback to our peers. I could see commenting being important in the individual student portfolios or as a way for peer review or instructor follow-up. I also am very curious about the tools that the students are using for videos, images, and blogging. Are they provided with these tools? Do students have access to these tools at home? How much time do students spend developing videos or organizing images? Overall, Russell Street School is leading the way with classroom blogging. It has become a part of their school culture and stands as an example for how blogging can enhance and deepen learning in our schools.